Teachers ask Nakalema to recover missing Shs10b

BY

kampala. Teachers have asked the head of State House Anti-Corruption Unit, Lt Col Edith Nakalema, to help them recover their Shs10.8 billion, which they claim was stolen by some government officials.
The teachers from private schools appealed to the anti-corruption unit to compel those implicated in the scandal to refund their money to help them survive amid the lockdown resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The teachers’ fund was stolen and we heard that the officials implicated were arrested and charged. But our question is, what other steps are being taken by the government to restore our hope?” Mr Nelson Mwanga, a teacher from Bugweri District, said.

In 2011, President Museveni pledged to give Shs10 billion as a grant under the teacher’s loan fund but upon being sent, it went missing.
However, when the government released the money and it was expected to grow as a revolving fund under the Uganda National Teacher’s Union (Unatu), it was instead disbursed by the Microfinance Support Centre (MSC) management.
Four people among them, the executive director of the MSC, Mr John Peter Mujuni, were recently charged over the missing cash.

Mr Mujuni was jointly remanded with MSC head of finance and administration John Mwebembezi, Ms Julia Birungi, who is working as an assistant credits officer, and a teacher, Ms Joan Baryaruha Asiimwe. They have since been released on bail.
The teachers’ demand comes after they recently stormed court where the suspects had appeared, demanding to know the fate of their missing fund.

Lt Col Nakalema said the matter is pending determination in the courts of law but promised to contact the Ministry of Education to address the teachers’ concern. “I will write to the minister [Ms Janet Museveni] and inform her about your outcry and request for the teachers’ grant,” Lt Col Nakalema said while persuading teachers to take the lead in fighting corruption.
Speaking at the teachers’ training session held at Kaazi Camping Site in Wakiso District on Tuesday, Lt Col Nakalema asked the teachers to guard against graft tendencies by leading exemplary livelihoods.

“The best tool a teacher can use to fight corruption is to live a corruption-free life. If a child sees you living a corruption free life, they will copy, talk and sing about it,” she said, urging teachers to live within their means.
Lt Col Nakalema asked the teachers to lead an upright life and form a basis of their success without questionable acts.